I've helped friends construct "earthbag" domes, but they used stabilized earth (lime in one, portland cement in another). > 1)no structural integrity to the ac

I've helped friends construct "earthbag" domes, but they used stabilized earth (lime in one, portland cement in another). > 1)no structural integrity to the actual fill of the bags, unless you add cement, in which case why are you building with earth bags? Because earth bags (or sand bags) are cheap and you can start building your structure in small increments immediately. There's no need for constructing forms, and you can mix stabilized earth in small batches. We're in the desert, so the fill was pretty ideal and didn't require much cement to stabilize. My friends have their share of earthbag structure complaints but they're more focused on how laborious and time-consuming the process is, and the cost of protecting the exterior with something like stucco which you then can't really put loads on (like climbing/walking) without cracking. They've since moved on to only making earthdomes below grade, where it's naturally cooler (desert) and you don't have to deal with an exterior finish like stucco, as it's all buried underground.